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Up (alternate)
| story = | starring = | music = Michael Giacchino | cinematography = | editing = Kevin Nolting | studio = | distributor = Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | released = May 29, 2009 | runtime = 96 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $175 million | gross = $735.1 million }} Up is a 2009 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Pete Docter. It is the tenth animated feature film produced by Pixar. The film centers on an elderly widower named Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Edward Asner), a young adult wannabe named Emma Fredricksen (Selena Gomez) and an earnest young Wilderness Explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagai). By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl, along wit her daughter, Emma, sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America and to complete a promise made to his childhood sweetheart and beloved wife, Ellie. The film was co-directed by Bob Peterson, with music composed by Michael Giacchino. It was the first musical film before Coco. Docter began working on the story in 2004, which was based on fantasies of escaping from life when it becomes too irritating. He and eleven other Pixar artists spent three days in Venezuela gathering research and inspiration. The designs of the characters were caricatured and stylized considerably, and animators were challenged with creating realistic cloth. The floating house is attached by a varying number between 10-20,000 balloons in the film's sequences. Up was Pixar's first film to be presented in Disney Digital 3-D. Up was released in May 2009 and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film to do so. The film became a great financial success, accumulating over $731,342,744 in its theatrical release. Up received critical acclaim, with most reviewers commending the humor and heart of the film. Edward Asner was praised for his portrayal of Carl, and a montage of Carl, his wife Ellie and her daughter Emma aging together was widely lauded. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, making it the second animated film in history to receive such a nomination, following Beauty and the Beast. Plot At eight years old, Carl Fredricksen was a fan of Charles F. Muntz, who piloted his own self-made dirigible, "Spirit of Adventure." One day, while running down a sidewalk, pretending to pilot his balloon (a regular blue balloon with the words "Spirit of Adventure written on the side), Carl hears a voice coming from a dilapidated house. Curious, Carl enters the house and meets Ellie, a young girl and fellow fan of Muntz, and they become close friends almost instantly. Ellie's startling introduction causes Carl to release his balloon, which gets stuck in the attic. With Ellie's encouragement, he tries to get it back by crossing a single wooden plank across the second floor of the house. However, the wooden plank breaks and Carl ends up breaking his arm. Ellie visits him at his bedroom later that night (returning his balloon to him) and shows Carl her secret Adventure Book. She also tells Carl of her plans to go to Paradise Falls, the same place Muntz had visited on his recent expedition to capture an exotic creature. Years later, Carl marries Ellie and they begin rebuilding the old house, making it their home. However, when Ellie's water was broken, she and Carl go to the hospital to get a baby girl called Emma. Ellie becomes a tour guide for a zoo and Carl becomes a balloon salesman, working side-by-side. They go through many stages of their life together and dream of going to Paradise Falls in South America. So they decided to save up some money, but unforeseen events (a tire blows out, Carl breaks his leg, a tree crashes into the house and breaks the roof during a storm) force them to use the money they had been saving. Carl and Ellie grow old together while Emma grows young, working at a zoo selling balloons and giving tours respectively. While cleaning the house, Carl notices the picture of their house perched at the top of Paradise Falls, after tucking the savings jar away and leaving the trip out of mind. Carl then goes to buy tickets to Paradise Falls (presumably with retirement money). He then takes Ellie and Emma on a picnic, bringing the tickets as a surprise for them. While climbing up the hill where they had spent so much time before, Ellie's old age begins to catch up to her, and she stumbles over. Before long, she dies of old age in the hospital, causing Emma to be devastated. Heartbroken and alone, Carl returns to his house with Emma after attending Ellie's funeral. In the present, Carl is old and grumpy, and Emma is young and smart. They still live in their same old house, which they feel is the thing that's keeping Ellie close to them, but surrounding it is a huge city landscape; new buildings are coming up all around Carl's property. A corporation is trying to move him and her daughter, which would break what they had promised. They then end up in a tussle with a construction worker over Carl's broken mailbox and is forced by a court order to move into a retirement home. He then realizes this would be his last chance to fulfill that promise. The next morning, two nurses, A.J. and George, from the Shady Oaks Retirement Village come to pick up Carl and Emma. They come out, but tell the workers that before they leave, they want to "say one last goodbye to the old place." They oblige and walk back towards the van. Suddenly, thousands and thousands of balloons appear from behind the house. The house is ripped from its foundation and carried into the sky. Passersby look in shock to see the flying house. Carl and Emma proceed to extend shower curtains and blankets from the side of the house, as rudders. Just when Carl lies down in his chair after setting his course for South America, he and Emma hear a knock at his door; it's Russell, a young Wilderness Explorer who had pestered Carl and Emma the day before in an attempt to earn their final merit badge for "assisting the elderly" and become Wilderness Explorers. He was looking for a creature named a "snipe" that Carl had made up to get him to leave when he accidentally got caught onto the house as it floated away. Carl and Emma let him come inside, and they start obnoxiously looking around the house. Emma decides to abort her mission and cut balloons from his fireplace to land the house. However, they enter a fierce thunderstorm, tossing the house through the clouds. Carl gathered all his belongings, tied them down, and eventually passed out from exhaustion. Russell wakes Carl and Emma up to tell them that he steered the house and that they were in South America, using a GPS. Soon after, Russell accidentally tosses said GPS out the window. Carl and Emma decide to land the house and try to send Russell home. They go out to the front porch; Carl expects the house to take several hours to reach the ground, but soon finds that they are much closer to the ground than he and Emma thought. The house suddenly hits the ground, tossing Carl, Emma and Russell from the porch. Carl manages to grab onto a dangling hose to stop the house from floating away, Emma and Russell grab onto Carl's leg, further weighing the house down. Coated in fog, they are dragged to the edge of a seemingly endless cliff. Emma and Russell pull Carl and the house back to safety soon after. The fog clears and Carl begins to look around at the extraordinary landscape. He soon notices the astonishing view of Paradise Falls; they made it. Carl orders Emma and Russell to climb up the hose to the house, and hoist him up. However, Russell barely makes it up the hose at all, and the option of getting up to the house is thrown out. Carl becomes outraged while Emma becomes disappointed, but Russell comes up with the bright idea to "walk" the house to the falls. Once they're in the jungle, Russell needs a bathroom break. He finds what he thinks are snipe tracks and encounters a giant, chocolate-loving bird. He brings it back to Carl and Emma who is absolutely terrified. Though friendly with Russell, the bird is obnoxious towards Emma. Russell becomes attached and names it Kevin, but Carl and Emma just want to move on. Russell leaves a trail of chocolate for Kevin to follow. Soon, Carl, Emma and Russell find themselves in a strange rocky area. Soon, they come across a lone dog with a strange collar. Carl calls for its owner, but Emma and Russell just play with it. Soon, it begins to speak to them. The dog introduces himself as Dug. He says that the collar (which allows him to speak) was made by his "good and smart" master. Soon, Kevin comes along and pounces on Dug, who urges Carl, Emma and Russell to allow him to take Kevin as his "prisoner". Emma, thinking it's just a "weird trick", urges Russell to come with him and her father and move on. Meanwhile, Alpha, Beta and Gamma (named after Greek letters) are dogs with collars like Dug are searching for a bird as well; Alpha has a problem with his collar which makes his voice high-pitched (like a chipmunk). It turns out that these dogs sent Dug on a "special mission" to find the bird, just so they could get rid of him. Realizing they could get in trouble with their master for losing Dug, they start a video transmission with him through their collars. They are shocked to find that Dug has found the bird and has taken it as his prisoner. Dug abruptly cuts off the transmission when Russell comes on the screen. Confused, they use the trackers on their collars to find Dug. As Carl, Emma and Russell continue their way through the jungle, Carl ditches Dug and Kevin with a tennis ball and a piece of chocolate respectively. Dug and Kevin eventually return with Dug holding the same tennis ball that Carl threw. Night falls, and it begins to rain. Dug and Kevin fall asleep while Russell struggles to build a tent, but is unable to do it. Russell explains to Carl and Emma that he's never been camping before, but Emma promised Russell that she would come to his father's ceremony for when he becomes a senior wilderness explorer. Carl feels bad for treating him so badly, realizing that even though he and her daughter were parts of Ellie's "adventure club", he had never had an adventure. Emma and Russell make Carl cross his heart that Kevin can come with them on their adventure. The rain stops and the clear night sky came into view. Carl send Emma and Russell to sleep, thinking about all he had been through today. Carl and Emma wake up in the morning to find Kevin gone. Russell and Dug are in panic, but soon they see the bird on the roof of his house with a pile of food. Dug explains that Kevin is collecting food for her babies, which leads Russell to realize that Kevin was a girl the whole time. Kevin called for her babies, and a faint peeping could be heard. Kevin runs to her babies and leaves. Carl forces Dug and Russell along, leaving the latter depressed. As they're walking, they encounter Alpha, Gamma and Beta. Dug leaks out that he lost the bird, and the rest of the dogs force Carl, Emma and Russell to come along with Dug to their master. The dogs bring Carl, Emma and Russell to a giant cave. Inside are dozens of dogs, all with the special collars. Out from the shadows comes an elderly, but fit man. The man apologizes for getting Carl into this situation and gives them a goodbye. After a moment, though, Carl calls to the man again. He discovers that the man, the dogs' master, is actually Charles Muntz. Glad to see a fan of his, Muntz invites Carl, Emma and Russell inside the cave, where Muntz's dirigible, the Spirit of Adventure, is stationed. Carl, Emma and Russell park the house beside the cave and enter the dirigible as Dug gets the "Cone of Shame", a giant funnel, put on his head for his wrongdoings. In the dirigible's trophy room, Carl is in awe at all of the treasures that Muntz had collected. Just then, Alpha calls Muntz for dinner; Muntz hears Alpha's voice and fixes the problem with his collar. Carl, Emma and Russell are invited to dinner. Before long, they see hundreds of photos, drawings, and information on Kevin around the room. Carl realizes what is happening; Muntz is searching for Kevin; the beast of Paradise Falls. Russell calls out that they saw the bird, but Carl quickly adds in that it ran away. Emma looks out the window to see Kevin in the cave. She and her father rushe Russell out of the dirigible, but the dogs quickly chase after, understanding why they had suddenly left as Muntz see Kevin on top of Carl's house. Carl, Emma and Russell grab the house and run for their lives. Dug quickly points out a side cave for Carl, Emma and Russell to take. Just when the dogs are about to catch them, Kevin leaps from the roof of the house and scoops up Carl, Emma and Russell, helping them run. The balloons on the roof of the house pop as they drag against the stalactites. The house hits a giant rock and knocks Russell off of Kevin, still hanging onto the harness that was connected to the house. An avalanche of rocks falls as they make it outside, stopping the dogs. Dug tries to command the dogs to stop chasing them, but Dug is knocked away by Alpha, removing the Cone of Shame. Soon, Kevin arrives at the edge of a cliff. The house is moving forward, dragging them off the cliff. Everybody grabs on as they are taken midair. The dogs jump to catch them but fall into a rushing river. Carl, Emma, Russell and Kevin land on the other side of the canyon. Kevin is terribly hurt and can't go on. Russell begs to stop and help Kevin; Carl looks up to see that the balloons are getting weaker and weaker. Emma reluctantly agrees to stop, remembering his promise to Russell as well. The soaked dogs return to Muntz, who reacts angrily. When the dogs explain that Dug is on Kevin's side, he comes up with the idea to use Dug's tracking device. Meanwhile, Carl and the group think that they're safe. They decide to continue moving with Kevin on the porch of the house. Russell tells Carl and Emma that the wilderness is a lot "wilder" than he thought it would be. He said his dad made it sound easy, going on to say that after their meetings for the Wilderness Explorers, he would bring him to Fenton's Creamery, where they would sit on the curb and count the number of blue and red cars that go by. He then goes on to say that it was the simple things he remembers the most. Kevin hears her babies cry for help and darts towards them, into the cave. Suddenly, a spotlight falls on Kevin--Muntz's dirigible had followed her. Kevin tries to run, but a net shoots out of the dirigible and catches her. Emma takes Russell's knife and saws at the net. The dogs are getting closer, and they are dragging Carl's house behind them. Muntz yells at them to get away from his bird and scowls evilly and throws a lantern at the house and sets it afire, the heat destroying some of the balloons. Emma runs to save the house and stops sawing. Immediately, the dogs swarm Kevin; they take her into the dirigible and leave. Russell is upset that Carl practically gave Kevin to Muntz. Carl and Emma claim it was none of his concern, never asked for any of the trials and tribulations he was put through, blames Dug for their troubles after Dug tries to cheer them up (Carl and Emma even claiming that if it wasn't for him, none of this would have happened), sends them away, and continues straight on to the falls, an upset Russell behind him. Soon, Carl and Emma finally arrive at the falls. They have finally achieved his goal and kept their promise to Ellie, but Carl doesn't feel happy. Russell throws his sash on the ground in anger, saying that he doesn't want it anymore. Emma picks up the sash and looks towards the house (at this point, it's barely above the ground). The balloons had weakened severely over the past day or two. Carl and Emma go inside and quietly began to tidy up. The house is a mess; everything is all over the floor. Carl and Emma take a seat in their chairs for a moment. Emma picks up Ellie's adventure book beside her feet. She flips through the pages, up until the page marked "Stuff I'm Going to Do". Thinking that the pages will simply be blank, Carl goes to shut it but is surprised when he notices a bit of picture on the next page: the pages are not empty. They are filled with pictures of Carl, Ellie and Emma's life together. The final photo is of them, with Carl and Ellie elderly and in their chairs and Emma youngerly in her chair. Below, in the corner, Ellie has written a simple heartfelt message: Carl and Emma learn that Ellie saw their simple life as her adventure. Emma looks at Russell's sash and crosses her heart. Back outside, Russell grabs a large bunch of balloons and a leaf blower. He declares that he'll find and free Kevin even if Carl and Emma won't help him, and flies off. Carl and Emma attempt to follow suit, but the balloons' depletion prevents the house from flying any higher. Carl throws a chair off the front porch in frustration. Emma then comes up with an idea. She begins to take all of the items in her father's house and throws them out, which causes the house become lighter. After getting rid of the last item in the house, the house goes airborne again, much to Carl's pride. Dug (who had hidden under the porch) also comes with Carl and Emma, who both agree that Carl is Dug's master. Russell tries to save Kevin, but he is quickly captured by Muntz. He interrogates Russell, who won't reveal anything. Muntz looks out the window to see Carl, Emma and the house. He demands the dogs to get rid of Carl and Emma if they see them. The floor below Russell starts to lower, sending him down a ramp to nowhere. Emma catches sight of this and puts on Russell's sash. He steers the house towards the dirigible and jumps to Russell, saving him from death. Russell says to Carl and Emma that they should work together to help Kevin, but Carl just wants Russell safe and demands that he stays in the house. Carl, Emma and Dug enter the dirigible through an air duct. They discover Kevin, who is locked in a giant cage guarded by fierce dogs. Carl grabs a tennis ball on the edge of his cane and throws it out the door of the room, leading all the dogs to give chase. Emma locks the door and begins to free Kevin. Meanwhile, Russell leaves the house but falls off the porch. He grabs the garden hose and is dangling for his life. The wind pushes the house towards Muntz's dirigible and knocks Russell against the window of the cockpit. Muntz sees Russell and demands that the dogs take down the house; they get into airplanes and shoot at Russell and the balloons. Carl, Emma, Dug and Kevin sneak through the corridors of the airship, looking for a way out. Suddenly, Muntz emerges from the shadows and pulls out a sword. Muntz kicks Dug out of the door and locks it. In front of Dug now are Alpha and the remainder of the pack. Muntz slashes at Carl as Emma tries to defend him with the microphone. Carl gets knocked to the ground. Emma has an idea; she sings so high at Muntz, knocking him back. Back in the cockpit, Dug is being knocked against the controls, turning the ship. Muntz stumbles in the other room, giving Carl, Emma and Kevin an escape chance. They jump out the window and began to climb the airship, with Muntz right behind. Back in the cockpit, the dog pack traps Dug, who is hiding under the dashboard. As Alpha sticks his head through the steering wheel to reach him, Dug sticks a lampshade over his head, breaking his collar, returning his high-pitched voice, and trapping his head in the steering wheel. Believing Alpha is now wearing the Cone of Shame, the pack take Dug as their leader and listen to his every command. Outside, Emma and Russell sees Carl and Kevin in trouble. Encouraged, he manages to climb to the porch of the house. Planes continue to attack, but he manages to stop the planes by calling out that he sees a squirrel; this distracts the dogs and makes them collide all of the planes. Meanwhile, Carl and Kevin make it to the top of the dirigible, where Dug joins them. Emma steers to the top of the dirigible; everybody grabs on and steps on the porch. Muntz reaches the top of the dirigible, now holding a hunting rifle. With one shot, a bullet rips through the balloon strings, sending a good amount of them floating away. The house hits the top of the airship, sending Carl tumbling out and the house sliding off the top. Emma grabs onto a hose to try to stop the house from falling. She yells to Russell, Dug and Kevin to escape the house. Muntz fires at the porch, forcing them to run inside the house. Muntz jumps onto the front porch and bangs on the front door of the house with his rifle. Carl warns Emma, Russell and Dug to hang onto Kevin just as Muntz crashes through the front door. Just before Muntz can shoot the bird, Emma pulls out a chocolate bar, enticing Kevin, who knocks off Muntz's rifle. She jumps through the front window, and Russell's hat falls off of his head, but when Muntz lunges after Kevin, his foot becomes entangled in some balloon lines, and when they break off, Muntz falls to his death thousands of feet below. Emma manages to save everybody else, but his house drifts through the clouds. Carl assures Russell that it's just a house. Sometime later, Carl, Emma, Russell and Dug are with Kevin and her babies. Kevin is now safe. They say their goodbyes and enter Muntz's dirigible. Together, Carl, Emma and Russell take off for home. The dogs are now happy, not ferocious, as Carl is now their master. Back in the city, the Senior Wilderness Explorer ceremony has finally begun. Emma steps up to the front of the audience, and starts singing a pop song. The Campmaster asks for someone to come up for Emma, and Carl has arrived just in time. He awards Emma with the grape soda badge that Ellie had given him. The dogs howl with approval. Carl, Emma and Russell sit on a curb in front of Fenton's Creamery, licking ice cream cones as the dirigible floats overhead. They count the red and blue cars that pass by. Soon, they begin to point at things that aren't cars, such as the fire hydrant and a balloon. But nobody minds, as it was just a simple game, something Emma and Russell care for, and something Carl will remember for the rest of his life. The film ends with a shot of Paradise Falls, where it is revealed that Carl's house hasn't crashed at all, and has landed in the spot overlooking the falls exactly where Ellie pictured it. Over the credits, Carl and Emma have started a new adventure book detailing their life as they settle into retirement while spending lots of time with Russell. Carl and Emma move into Shady Oaks, where the dogs are shown to bring happiness to the residents while Carl and Emma live happily with Russell and Dug by their side. Kevin is in South America with her kids. Cast *Edward Asner as Carl Fredricksen (Jeremy Leary voiced Carl as a young child). Docter and Rivera noted Asner's television alter ego, Lou Grant had been helpful in writing for Carl, because it guided them in balancing likable and unlikable aspects of the curmudgeonly character. When they met Asner and presented him with a model of his character, he joked, "I don't look anything like that." (The appearance of Carl is meant to resemble Spencer Tracy as he appeared in his final film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?) They tailored his dialogue for him, with short sentences and more consonants, which "cemented the notion that Carl, post-Ellie, is a disgruntled bear that's been poked awake during hibernation". In Colombia, unexpected publicity for the film was generated due to the uncanny similarity of Carl with Colombian ex-president Julio César Turbay Ayala. *Selena Gomez as Emma Fredricksen (Joey King voiced Emma as a young child). Emma is Carl and Ellie's daughter who dreams of becoming a pop singer. Her design is based on Bloom from Winx Club, but unlike her, she got the hair color from her father and the eye color from her mother. She is the female protagonist of the film. *Christopher Plummer as Charles F. Muntz. Muntz is an old explorer looking for the beast of Paradise Falls; he vowed not to return to North America until he had captured the creature. He uses a group of dogs to aid him in his hunt. The name of his airship, Spirit of Adventure, may have been inspired by Charles Lindbergh's airplane, Spirit of St. Louis. His name is somewhat of a parody to Charles B. Mintz, the man that was responsible for stealing the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. In various interviews, Pete Docter has mentioned Howard Hughes and real life adventurers Charles Lindbergh and Percy Fawcett as inspirations for Muntz. He is the main antagonist of the film. *Jordan Nagai as Russell. On their journey, Russell makes several comments to Carl and Emma that suggest that his father and mother are no longer together. Russell's design was based on Pixar animator Peter Sohn. Docter auditioned 400 boys in a nationwide casting call for the part. Nagai, who is Japanese-American, showed up to an audition with his brother, who was actually the one auditioning. Docter realized Nagai behaved and spoke non-stop like Russell and chose him for the part. Nagai was 8 years old when cast. Docter encouraged Nagai to act physically as well as vocally when recording the role, lifting him upside down and tickling him for the scene where Russell encounters Kevin. Asian Americans have positively noted Pixar's first casting of an Asian lead character, in contrast to the common practice of casting non-Asians in Asian parts. *Bob Peterson as Dug, a Golden Retriever who can talk. He is the misfit of a pack of talking dogs owned by Muntz. Peterson knew he would voice Dug when he wrote his line "I have just met you, and I love you," which was based on what a child told him when he was a camp counselor in the 1980s. The DVD release of the film features a short called Dug's Special Mission, which follows Dug just prior to his first meeting with Carl, Emma and Russell. Dug previously appeared in Ratatouille as a shadow on a wall that barks at Remy. **Peterson also voices Alpha, a talking Doberman Pinscher and the leader of Muntz's pack of dogs. Pete Docter has stated that Alpha "thinks of himself as Clint Eastwood". Despite his menacing appearance, a frequent malfunction in Alpha's translating collar causes his voice to sound comically high-pitched and squeaky as if he had been breathing helium. The normal voice for his translator is a resonant, intimidating bass. With both voices, Alpha has a roundabout speech pattern that causes his sentences to be longer than necessary. He is the secondary antagonist of the film. *Pete Docter as Kevin, a large colorful prehistoric bird. Other than voicing Kevin, Docter also voices Campmaster Strauch, Russell's camp master, seen at the end of the film. *Elizabeth Docter as Ellie Fredricksen as a younger child. The voice actor is the director's daughter, who also provided some of the drawings shown by Ellie. *Delroy Lindo as Beta, a Rottweiler and one of Muntz's dogs. *Jerome Ranft as Gamma, a Bulldog and one of Muntz's dogs. *John Ratzenberger as Tom, a construction worker who asks if Carl is ready to sell his house. *David Kaye as the newsreel announcer. Video game *A video game, Kinect Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure, was released on March 20, 2012, for Xbox 360. It features characters from five of Pixar's films: Up, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille and Toy Story. *There is also an "Up" game that was released in May 2009. *In Disney INFINITY, Carl's house and cane are usable items. Theme parks *For a short time you could meet Carl, Emma, Russell and Dug, four characters from the film at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort. Their meeting location was in the Magic of Disney Animation Character Spot. Their former location currently houses Winnie the Pooh's Meet and Greet area. Since then, Russell and Dug have been moved to Animal Kingdom in Discovery Island. The stars of Up also star in the new Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade at Disney's Hollywood Studios. *Russell and Dug are also part of the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail where guest take part in a fun-filled challenge to earn a Wilderness Explorer Badge and to take part in the Senior Wilderness Explorer Ceremony at Grizzly Peak in Disney's California Adventure theme park. *A scene from Up featuring Carl, Emma and Russell and a voice over commentary by Dug is shown as part of DCA's World of Color nighttime spectacular. *Up is featured in the Magic Kingdom nighttime spectacular Celebrate the Magic. 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